He released a breath, as his boots crunched the earth beneath them, “Fortunately it's grey, but the
brown leather is good for shielding yourself from all descendants, the Garde wears them the most. The
material isn’t very strong, the colour itself symbolizes peace, students who’ve ascended wear them
often as well, it keeps their parents off their backs, it’s made from the insides of the Khiron trees.”
Nadia muttered, “The Garde are the peacekeepers after all,” but loud enough for Clare to hear.
“That’s horrible, don’t the trees die, they seem so,” Clare paused, “alive.”
“Nah, we just remove branches, it grows back within a few months, they don’t really mind, they’ve been
doing it since the angels first arrived, it’s one of the reasons they exist.”
Nathan gestured, with his finger to the end of the cave, as they grew closer toward the noise, “The
chambers for the court, Luckily we’re meeting only some of the Orderian.”
Clare asked, “Do you think they gonna agree to help Calub?”
Alonso interrupted, with a nonchalant shrug, “If they don’t we’d just do it anyway, we don’t really have
to obey them just yet, well Nathan does, but only the Garde condones the Orderian say in anything,
besides it’s not like we’re addressing the Advisors.”
“ALONSO” Nadia shouted, a meter away from Nathan, Alonso and herself, “Stop putting ideas in
Clare’s head, there are consequences when you defy the rules of the realms, even for those who aren’t
ascended.”
Alonso said, “It’s just a dumb treaty.” He rolled his eyes, “I don’t see why we have to pretend as we
care or need them, especially those Asguardians, I hate them, egotistical jackasses.”
Nathan muffled in irritation, he sighed, “We have a peace treaty with some of the other realms.” He
explained to Clare, choosing to ignore Alonso’s snarky comments, “That’s how we keep most things
strictly on a demon and Tempters basis.”
Nadia added, slowing down, as they almost reached the open area, “There are certain rules that each
of the realms agrees to follow, in return, we offer them protection and agree to a fair trial if any crimes
have been committed, amongst other things. That way no harm comes to the humans, you should
thank the famous Blackwylls for that.”
Alonso added, “There are still some who defy the Advisors, the highest order of our kind.”
“True, but when there’s a problem that affects other realms, we only call the realms concerned.” Nathan
continued, “We then discuss a common ground solution, if a major law is broken then we vote on a
possible punishment, that is what the Garde do, think of them like policemen. In our case, we seek
assistance from the other realms without the approval of the Advisors so this is a public matter.”
Nathan stopped, and held Clare’s arm gaining her full attention, the seriousness on his face made her
flinch, “Asguardians consider themselves above law, so be careful, and don’t heed what Alonso said,
don’t mistake his size for his honour.”
Clare nodded and soon enough they arrived in a place which was enveloped with people, covering the
eighteen-row drop of metal chairs. She recognized some of them, from the moon ceremony.
As if they sensed her presence, most turned and stared openly at her, she had expected it. Nathan
explained that it would happen because she was considered cursed. After all, she had no Angelic soul,
but he didn’t say that she would freak out, or that her palms would get sweaty.
Nathan warned her that morning, how news travelled like a lightning bolt, so she attempted poorly to
shrug off the feeling, and narrowed her eyes in an even more poor attempt as she pretended that she
was actually looking for someone specific.
The place was a sight for the well-deserved eyes, a modern court, tenfold, with lots of chairs joined
together as it curved into an oval shape, it was magnificent.
Ancient relic symbols and paintings sketched the walls with colours of blacks and reds and splashes of
browns and white. White marble thrones that resembled the ones she’d seen first when they’d entered
the dome lined up in a straight line centred the room. On the far right, people surrounded two crescent
shape tables with cakes and biscuits and other delectable’s, making her mouth water.
She looked around her, realizing but not shocked that Nadia, Alonso had scattered, including Nathan,
so much for small talk, she hissed inwardly.
The small group of people further in front of her, whom she remembered as the Elvan stared at her as if
she was forbidden fruit. She gave them a flippant what-the-hell-are-you-looking-at snub, she already
disliked their princess Alexa, so it wasn’t hard to despise them too. The Shapeshifter’s stood on the
opposite side examining a young Lightwatcher like he was an alien specimen.
She noticed something interesting as she stood by her lonesome, how divided the room was. The
descendants didn’t mix very well with those who weren’t their own, except surprisingly the Casters.
They were the ones with the bands around their wrist, the only ones scattered amongst the whole
crowd. Clare chuckled at the thought, shaking her head at the absurdity of this live picture. Who
would've thought that the social ones were the evilest of the lot, but then again, who was she to judge.
She felt a tingle and a breezy whisper in her ear, “I see” the person said, with emphasis on the s, “that
you are lost,”
She spun around, her long hair hitting his body. Her breathing hitched when she took him in, Kalbreal,
all dressed up. Her eyes slowly descended taking in the charcoal suit lining his muscular body. His
pants tailored to perfection hinted at the ridges of his thighs. His black shirt which was definitely a thick
silken thread was left un-tucked, his jacket open. Altogether, with his markings on his ears he looked
sinfully sexy, but those eyes,
Clare couldn’t hold in her laugh, as the blush turned her face shades of ruby, she turned around
properly to face him, “So someone's in a good mood, did your prayers get answered?” She said,
taunting him with her eyes.
Kalbreal lifted his shirt slightly to show her a black-edged blade, “See for yourself.” She smiled as she
looked at the blade which protruded out from its black sheath made with diamond edging, hmm,
definitely an angel, “Nice, are you gonna give me the rundown of who’s who, before I make a complete
idiot of myself?”
He gestured with his hand, as a ghost of a smile shadowed his face, “We should sit higher up, I have a
reputation with female Lightwatchers.” He shrugged with a sheepish smile, “If we’re going to sin we
might as well do it privately.”
Clare raised her eyebrow and smiled with a knowing look as Kalbreal ushered her to the top of the
court. She had to admit, this playful side of him was definitely the side she wanted to be on.
When they sat down she saw a few people walking towards the marble chairs facing the audience, they
wore green robes that were open in the front, “Who are those people?”
“Some of the members of the Orderian, look there, the first on the right.” He leaned in closer to her, his
voice a bare whisper, “The Elvan queen, Arexandra, the Shapeshifter master, Jaiden Pyn, the Caster
Vincent Ipswich, his the son of Asmodeus you met him last night, and the sulking one sitting on the end
that’s Raphael, Prime of Asguard.”
“They are serious children of the Angels.”
“Majority are descendants of their children, Angels don’t conceive often.”
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